Chapter 200. Demons and Monsters (End) We’re Bankrupt

     This forest is truly vast, a carpet search would take at least three days and nights, making it absolutely impossible.

     Fortunately, there’s Hawk Eye. Its vision can instantly cover the entire burial ground.

     “Too big!” Ye Mo was overwhelmed by the countless pieces of information flooding her vision, so much so that her mental power instantly broke through its limit, and her Spirit stat increased by 1.

     “Too small. Can’t cover everything. Make it bigger.”  

     “Smaller, smaller—yes, there.”  

     Aside from Watson and Wang Xue, the others had no idea who Ye Mo was talking to. It was baffling, there were no other survivors around, so they could afford to be a little casual in their attitudes.  

     But Ye Mo couldn’t be bothered with any of that. The system’s notifications of Spirit attribute +1+1+1+1 went completely ignored as she focused all her attention on Hawk Eye’s full panoramic view—up, down, left, and right.  

     However, while Hawk Eye could often perceive real objects, it couldn’t assess their value.  

     For example, if it spotted a mineral vein, it couldn’t sense spiritual energy from a distance, only Ye Mo could determine that. If it was within range, she could scan it with her mental power, if it was beyond her reach, she had to decide whether it was worth approaching.  

     To the gathered demon tribes, all they saw was Ye Mo walking, stopping, sometimes standing still, other times darting swiftly ahead.  

     Apart from the wind-attuned fox clan—who possessed some spiritual perception and could guess half the truth—the rest were utterly bewildered. Gradually, impatience spread among the demons (except for the half-demons), and scattered murmurs began rising from the crowd.  

     Though this forest had been scoured countless times, there were still hidden treasures, precious ores, spirit plants, and more—scattered throughout.  

     All five elements were represented.  

     Ye Mo occasionally pointed out the locations of some treasures, sending away a few of the rowdier, growling demons to keep them occupied.  

     These treasures would definitely lead to disputes among various forces, and even to bloody fights, but they were not worth the half-demons dying for them, and none of the half-demons moved.

     Not all demons are impulsive and irritable, there are also smart and calm ones, and at least they would not get in the way.

     Ye Mo took three deep breaths and continued to explore.

     What confused her was that those spiritual objects were not more valuable than spiritual stones, so they were not enough to set up such a large spiritual gathering array, and the center of the array was not found.

     Until a place appeared, Hawk Eye caught glimpses of faint red and yellow hues—colors so subtle they were easily overlooked. Ye Mo’s spiritual scan detected a slightly stronger presence of fire and earth energy there.  

     She dashed toward the spot.  

     Calling the half-demons to help, Ye Mo uprooted towering ancient trees one after another, tossing them aside before digging deep into the earth.  

     Half an hour passed.  

     From beneath the soil emerged the massive skeleton of a beast, tinged with an extremely faint red hue—though the earthy yellow was indistinguishable due to the dirt. After tens of thousands of years, parts of the bones had decayed and crumbled away, yet remnants of what appeared to be bird wings could still be discerned. In life, this had been a divine beast of a bird-like species.  

     Attributes: Dual affinity—fire and earth.  

     The surrounding demons showed no desire to fight over the remains. For one, they still held a sense of reverence; for another, the energy lingering in these bones was pitifully weak—far inferior to that of a freshly deceased low-tier fire spirit.  

     Only one thing struck them as odd—the decomposition had been unbelievably slow.

     Ye Mo murmured, “The Burial Grounds…”  

     The name was eerily fitting. Could it be that the spirit-gathering array was somehow connected to these bones?  

     With a clear objective in mind, Ye Mo focused on locating spots similar to where the first skeleton was found. Sure enough, she discovered numerous other beast remains—some perfectly preserved for tens of thousands of years, others half-decayed.  

     Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Wind, Lightning, Ice, Light, Darkness – regardless of primary or secondary attributes, all these attributes were present.

     Some of these beast bones belonged to the demon race, and some to ancient half-demons. It seemed that in ancient times, there were many powerful half-demons. After all, half-demons often had a higher chance of possessing multiple attribute talents. When Metal and Wood reached their peak, they were definitely stronger than someone with just peak Metal.

     Yet the remains were scattered chaotically—more like casualties of war than deliberately arranged.  

     In fact, over tens of thousands of years, it wasn’t that no one had discovered these bones, but they didn’t think they were valuable. Perhaps the valuable ones had already been taken away, and the worthless ones were left behind.

     By now, six hours had already passed.  

     Disputes over treasures erupted dozens of times, and countless demons died as a result. These demons were both terrified of death and fearless, willing to disregard life and death for power.

     What made the demons overlook the half-demons was entirely due to the abilities Ye Mo displayed. Not just anyone could accurately call out the location of one or even a pile of treasures, nor could anyone dig up ten-thousand-year-old bones with such consistent accuracy.

     They increasingly believed that Ye Mo was no ordinary half-demon and practically stuck to her side.

     Because of this, Ye Mo became both the safest and the most dangerous place. She simply let the demons who were scrambling to work do the tasks, while the half-demons watched from the side. Wang Xue also kept a distance that was neither too close nor too far in the chaos.

     Every move Ye Mo made was under the watchful eyes of everyone. Watson found an opportunity to hide on Wang Xue’s body.

     In short, at the first sign of danger, everyone was ready to teleport away.

     …

     Another half-hour passed, and Ye Mo stopped digging up the battlefield remains.

     In her mind, she recalled the map of this burial forest. It was an irregular oval shape, and the center point was where the longest and shortest diameters intersected.

     Simplify the complex.

     Ye Mo headed towards this central area where Hawk Eye couldn’t detect anything unusual.

     “Found it.”

     Ye Mo didn’t dig, but the closer she got to the center, the more she could feel a faint, almost imperceptible attraction. Relying on this subtle pull, she found her destination.

     Nothing seemed out of the ordinary here, but the Suihou Pearl was also something that both her mental power and Hawk Eye completely overlooked.

     “”Start digging?”

     “Dig, dig up this whole area.”

     This time, they dug even deeper, taking even longer. They lost track of time, but finally, beast bones gradually appeared.

     “Could it be a bear?”

     “Maybe a snake?”

     “Could it be a fish…”

     “A deer’s back?”

     “…”

     The deeper they dug, the more they realized that these not-so-small bones didn’t belong to multiple demons, they might belong to a single demon, a demon with all attributes.

     Everyone turned their gazes towards Ye Mo’s ears. A demon with multicolored ears must be a half-demon, and right now, there was one in their group.

     However, Ye Mo’s attention was entirely focused on why this skeleton could be invisible. Moreover, unlike the other beast bones, the five elements spiritual energy in the air seemed to have a mutually reinforcing and inseparable connection with this shattered, indistinct skeleton.

     Continue searching.

     Gradually, with a crisp ‘clink’, a curved object buried beneath the soil revealed a glimpse of itself.  

     Ye Mo stepped forward to examine it.  

     The moment she reached out, a massive eagle-demon swooped down from the sky, its talons aimed straight at the curved object.  

     This scene had played out many times already on their journey. While Ye Mo could command the half-demons, she had no control over the demon tribes.  

     A swarm of demon underlings surged forward, their attacks—streaks of multicolored energy—converging on the target.  

     Who could withstand this?!

     Ye Mo tried to teleport away, but the mysterious object had suctioned her hand tightly. Not only could she not retrieve her space spirit stone, she could feel all the spiritual energy within her storage space—bit by bit—draining through her hand and flowing into the… egg?  

     Even the spirit jade was being devoured.  

     Even Hawk Eye was affected. Its abilities were derived from spiritual energy, and now its vision spun wildly, as if it were tumbling through the air after falling off a cliff—yet it, too, couldn’t break free.  

     Fortunately, the chaotic barrage of elemental attacks from the demons was being devoured by the unknown object like a black hole.  

     It wasn’t just Ye Mo—the eagle-demon was also trapped.  

     The creature was being drained of its innate wind energy, just as the other demons that had rushed in were being stripped of their powers. The object acted like an ultra-powerful magnet, once anything made contact, escape became impossible. Those caught in the middle became mere conduits, their energy forcibly channeled away.  

     That said, complete entrapment wasn’t absolute. Those whose spiritual energy was fully depleted—if they were on the periphery—could eventually break free. This applied, for example, to human warriors who relied solely on physical strength and speed, lacking any elemental affinity.  

     After a while, Ye Mo finally managed to adapt, somewhat to Hawk Eye’s disoriented state. Through sheer mental force, she wrested back a sliver of control and peered through the chaos.  

     Their team was at the epicenter of this chaos. While a handful managed to escape, most were completely overwhelmed. Wang Xue, perhaps driven by excessive concern, had also gotten herself trapped in the middle—relying on her storage bracelet’s energy reserves to hold on.  

     “Ugh—”  

     How long had it been since Ye Mo last felt this nauseous?  

     The system’s voice chimed in like an unwelcome guest, its notifications firing off at millisecond intervals—too rapid to comprehend, and severely delayed:  

   【Ye Mo’s physical attribute was detected to have exceeded the critical value, physical attribute +1】 ×n

   【Ye Mo’s mental attribute was detected to have exceeded the critical value, mental attribute +1】×n

   【…Unlocking physical ability, physical ability unlocking failed. 】

   【Ye Mo’s physical attribute has exceeded the critical value, physical attribute +1】

     …

     With torrents of elemental spiritual energy surging through Ye Mo’s body, it was inevitable that her physical constitution would be forcibly tempered. Meanwhile, the disruptions to her mental abilities stemmed entirely from Hawk Eye’s chaotic state—and Watson and Wang Xue, trapped in the middle layers, likewise found their own physical attributes relentlessly climbing.  

     Gradually, the “magnetic sphere” began shedding its captives layer by layer from the outside in.  

     The demons tumbled free, unharmed but completely drained of spiritual energy.  

     When the wave of releases reached Wang Xue and Watson, the process took noticeably longer—after all, Watson’s storage bracelet held endless medicinal plants and wood-attuned spirit jade, fueling prolonged resistance. But eventually, they too were ejected.  

     Compared to Watson increase in physique and ability initialization, Wang Xue unexpectedly got a blessing in disguise and inexplicably awakened the fire-type ability.

     Watson’s algae had withered to a sickly yellow, yet he still managed a smile. “Congratulations.”  

     “But what about you?” Wang Xue asked, concerned.  

     “Enhanced constitution isn’t a bad thing,” Watson replied—though his words were meant more for the elder and young water algae demons listening nearby. “Even if my abilities have regressed, or my beast core is depleted, my innate potential has undoubtedly increased. With continued training, I’ll only grow stronger.”  

     Using a spatial array, they contacted the half-demons who had fled to the forest outskirts in panic, urging them to return and assist. Not for their own sake, of course, but for the many still trapped in the vortex’s core.  

     Layer by layer, the captives were freed.  

     Eventually, only Ye Mo remained. Her space ring’s energy reserves stubbornly sustained her for hours longer than anyone else.  

     The moment she finally gained freedom, Ye Mo said to Watson and Wang Xue who were reaching out to her:

     “I’ve got good news and bad news.”  

     Wang Xue smiled through gritted teeth, “Let me guess, the bad news is we’re bankrupt.”  

     Watson’s smile was infuriatingly serene. “And the good news is… you’ve awakened a new ability?”  

     “That’s right.”  

     The three of them clasped hands tightly. 

     Just then, the curved object burst from the earth, hovering midair to reveal its true form: a colossal, multicolored egg, easily large enough to hold ten grown adults.  

     As the shell cracked, fragmented memories flooded the minds of every half-demons, human, and demons who had been drained by it.  

     Simultaneously, the system’s voice rang out:

 

   【Congratulations to survivor Ye Mo for completing the hidden task: preserving the spark of the Wangliang Chimei(Demons and Monsters) civilization.】

   【Congratulations to survivor Ye Mo for completing all main quests. Now Exiting the ‘Wangliang Chimei'(Demons and Monsters) dungeon 】 

   【Calculating Rewards…】